Rocky Mountain Power Wattsmart Homes and Business programs provide incentives for engine block heater controllers that can help homeowners and business owners save energy and money on their power bill.
Morgan Saxton talked with Rocky Mountain Power Spokesperson Bianca Velasquez about how engine block heater controllers work.
She describes them as "extension cords with brains".
These are designed to work with block heaters on diesel engines. A diesel can be difficult to start in the cold, so they have engine block heaters. Typically, a driver will plug his block heater in so that when he goes to start it, the truck will start easily.
The way the Power Badger provides energy savings is by setting a start ready time. If you plug in your car to warm overnight starting at 10pm and need to leave the next morning at 6am, you'd plug in the block heater, and it would run from 10pm to 6am.
A Power Badger allows the block heater to be ready by 6am. It calculates the ambient temperature and how long it will take to warm the engine block and turns itself on when necessary.
Some nights are warmer than others, so in the spring and fall, the Power Badger may not even turn on. This saves a ton of energy.
3 reasons why Engine Block Heater Controllers are worth it:
SAVE ENERGY: Newer, more efficient smart engine block controllers are superior to older block heater timers because they use variables such as ambient temperature to know when to operate. This helps reduce engine block run times. When setting preheat times using a block timer alone, you must plan for the worst-case scenario. But smart controllers dynamically adjust schedules for optimal efficiency.
SAVE TIME: Smart engine block controllers are easy to install and program. After that is done, less daily labor is needed.
SAVE MONEY: Energy savings come from not running equipment longer than necessary or when it's not needed.
Rebates for residential and business customers cover the cost of the EBHC, so it's free for customers to get.
Rebates up to $125 are available and you can learn more at WattsmartHomes.com.
